Multi-user networks may be required for a range of reasons. Among the most resource intensive of such multi-user networks are multi-user online gaming environments. Online gaming environments increasingly involve a complex and large virtual environment which is desired to be portrayed or rendered in as much detail as possible, in as close to real time as possible, in order to provide users or game players with a more realistic gaming experience. Further, an ever increasing number of users wish to participate together within such a gaming environment. Thus, large data volumes, high data rates and high data complexity is generally required in order to manage large numbers of users participating in real time in a spatially complex and highly detailed virtual environment.
A game publisher desiring to deploy an online gaming environment generally must establish a central game server with sufficient resources to handle game sessions for many hundreds or thousands of participants. Servers with sufficient processing power to function in this manner are expensive, leading to high deployment costs for game publishers. One proposal is to provide a server farm, upon which multiple game developers may centrally host their games, which can reduce deployment costs to a certain extent. However, any system utilising central gaming servers involves substantial expense associated with the gaming servers.
A further problem with gaming systems relying on central gaming servers is that the central gaming server presents a single point of failure. Consequently, any power failure, server failure or network connection failure or deterioration at the central gaming server can cause the entire gaming environment to deteriorate or fail.
Any discussion of documents, acts, materials, devices, articles or the like which has been included in the present specification is solely for the purpose of providing a context for the present invention. It is not to be taken as an admission that any or all of these matters form part of the prior art base or were common general knowledge in the field relevant to the present invention as it existed before the priority date of each claim of this application.
Throughout this specification the word “comprise”, or variations such as “comprises” or “comprising”, will be understood to imply the inclusion of a stated element, integer or step, or group of elements, integers or steps, but not the exclusion of any other element, integer or step, or group of elements, integers or steps.